Shy That Way
by Artisticmom2
Summary: It's almost Valentine's Day and someone on Enterprise is playing Cupid.


This story was inspired by the song _Shy That Way_, co-written and co-performed by Tristan Prettyman and Jason T. Mraz. Lyrics borrowed are written in italics.

Many thanks to my fabulous beta Tishkajaku!

February 1

"Why does he not approach her about this subject? It is apparent that he holds some affection for her."

"Well, he's actually kind of shy."

She stood and walked across the room. If he didn't know her better he would have thought her to be frustrated with the longstanding situation they were discussing.

"I find that hard to believe. He stood up to the Vulcan Consulate and pushed the Earth's Warp program forward on the force of his personality alone."

He shrugged. "Yeah, well, with women, he's different."

"He was the single driving force in taking _Enterprise_ through the Expanse to save humanity."

Trip shrugged and started changing out of his uniform. "That doesn't change the fact that _he's shy that way_."

She meditated on this thought for a time. "Perhaps she should be the first to make her feelings known."

"You know how she is. She's not much better than he is," he said as he tossed his uniform over the chair.

T'Pol gave Trip a cool look. He rolled his eyes and folded his uniform neatly.

"She is stronger than you think. Did she not follow him into space when her unease is so blatant?"

As Trip's head popped out from his undershirt, he glanced at T'Pol, one of his eyebrows raised in a characteristic gesture, hair tousled, and chest bare.

She continued, still pacing. "Has she not faced down all of her fears, come back from being tortured at the hands of the Xindi, and stayed on this mission well past the time she could leave?" she stated, making her point.

He finished changing and came to her, wrapped his arms around her, pulling her to him. "Love is a funny thing. Who knows if they'll ever figure it out?"

She relaxed into his embrace, silent, and he kissed the top of her head.

He spoke again, "I'm just glad that we figured it out, I'm only sorry that it wasn't sooner."

"As am I, _t'hy'la_," she said softly, her eyes closed, and was quiet for a time.

Abruptly, she pulled away from him and looked into his face. "Perhaps we should help the matter along."

He laughed in surprise. "What? Who are you and what did you do with my T'Pol?"

She arched her eyebrow in response and he sobered.

"How do you propose to _help_ matters along? He's a guy. He won't like someone monkeying with his love life."

Leaving his embrace she turned and lit the candle on the low table in the center of the room. "He has no love life with which to _monkey._"

Kneeling down, she stared into the flame, her face luminous.

She continued, "As I was saying, perhaps this situation needs some outside assistance."

He joined her at the table, kneeling across from her. "What do you have in mind?"

After a pause she admitted, "I haven't fully thought out all the possible scenarios that could bring these two together."

Trip nodded and considered, "Neither of them have had shore leave for quite some time and we are pretty close to Risa. Perhaps Phlox could order them both to take some personal time," he said, trying to be helpful.

"Even if Phlox agreed to that, there is no guarantee they'll spend any of that time together," she logically countered.

"I suppose you're right. They'll just _tap dance_ around each other like they have been doing ever since they met," he said, bringing the tea to the table.

T'Pol busied herself arranging everything. "I was under the impression that he resisted starting a relationship with her at that time because her age made such a thing…inadvisable."

"She was seventeen when they met, but he was falling over his feet with her even then. She didn't help the matter any as she could barely string two words together in his presence. It was actually sort of funny to watch, in a train-wreck kinda way."

She gazed at him, serene as always. "The linguist who couldn't speak and the captain with no courage." Her eyebrow rose again ever so slightly and he smiled ruefully at her over the rim of his mug.

Taking a sip of tea he said, "He could've made a move once she grew up a bit but, like I said, he's_ shy that way_."

"Perhaps you could give him lessons in how to speak to a potential mate? You are his closest male friend. That would fall under your purview," T'Pol countered calmly and sipped on her now cooling tea.

He laughed again. "The man is over forty years old. If he hasn't figured it out by now, no amount of coaching on my part is going to change the situation."

She nodded in acquiescence to his point and considered the difficulties of the situation at hand. She became lost in thought.

Trip finished his tea, watching the woman he loved working out a solution to the problem. Finally he set his mug down. He rose and took her hand, drawing her up and towards the bed. "Besides, it took me a while to get up the courage to come to you. Humans are different." He kissed her; she melted into him, reluctantly setting the problem aside for now.

"Leave it for tonight. I'm sure, with that Vulcan mind of yours, you can come up with something to bring those two knuckleheads together."

She reached around and felt the play of his muscles across his back, pleased with where Trip's logic was taking them. "You are correct. This will wait. We have other, _more pressing_, matters to attend to."

She bent over and blew out the light.

February 13 - Evening

T'Pol pressed the door chime. After a long interval the door slid open. A slightly disheveled Hoshi peered out.

"I'm sorry if I disturbed you Ensign. I did not know you were sleeping this early in the evening."

Hoshi stepped out into the corridor, tying closed her robe and blocking the doorway.

"No, it's fine. I just thought I would make an early night of it."

"May I come in?" she asked.

Hoshi shifted, "What can I help you with?"

T'Pol paused at Hoshi's uncharacteristic bluntness, and then realized that the ensign was most likely sleep deprived. T'Pol continued. "I understand that tomorrow the ship is celebrating the Earth custom of Valentine's Day. I came to offer you my meditation candles. I believe they will add…ambiance, to any festivities you may have planned."

Hoshi looked at the offered box, perplexed.

"Ah, thank you. I hadn't really had anything planned at this point. Usually unattached humans don't make plans for this day."

"Perhaps you should. I believe this holiday you will have an enjoyable evening."

With that T'Pol unceremoniously thrust the box into Hoshi's arm, turned and left intent on her next errand.

* * *

After walking the ship and investigating everywhere from the bridge to the mess hall, T'Pol had yet to find her quarry. She realized that he, too, must have retired early. Unwilling to disturb him in his quarters, as she knew she had to be more subtle in her approach, she returned to her cabin, and pondered where best to encounter him in the morning.

February 14 – Early Morning

Striding down the corridor apparently lost in thought T'Pol almost collided with the captain.

"I am sorry, I didn't see you there," T'Pol said, more agitated then he had seen her in a while.

"No problem. What's got you so worried this morning?"

She regarded him with a cool look. "Vulcans do not worry. However I was preoccupied with a small dilemma."

The captain smiled encouragingly, she continued.

"I left my quarters this morning to find this outside my door. It is from… someone unauthorized to give me gifts," she finished quickly.

The captain looked at the heart shaped box in T'Pol's hands, a smile forming on his lips. "Trip didn't leave this for you I take it?"

At a glare from T'Pol he added gently, "I am his best friend, I've known about you two for ages, and I couldn't be happier for you both."

Regaining her composure she met his gaze more calmly. "No, he knows that I do not care for sweets." She handed him the box.

Glancing at the label on the underside the captain grinned, "Chocolate this dark could hardly be called sweet."

"Nevertheless, I do not desire this candy and do not wish Commander Tucker to know about it. Human males tend to be… territorial."

The captain smiled again, he was well aware of Trip's sometimes mercurial emotions.

T'Pol continued. "I do not wish to waste the food as I know it took great effort for Starfleet to ensure that Enterprise had appropriate items for this celebration."

She paused and then appeared to have an idea. "Would you please take it? Then I no longer need to find a suitable recipient for this."

The captain looked perplexed but shrugged. "Sure T'Pol. I'm not sure what I'll do with it, but I can take it for you."

"Today _is_ Valentine's Day; perhaps you should join your crew and celebrate your planet's customs."

"That would hardly be appropriate. You're supposed to give sweets to your…" he searched for a word. "…significant other." He continued. "Of which I only have Porthos and chocolate can be fatal to him." He pondered for a moment. "Perhaps I can pass this on to Phlox; I believe he likes dark chocolate."

T'Pol felt an uncharacteristic moment of panic and suppressed it in typical Vulcan fashion. She tried to salvage the situation.

"I understand that Ensign Sato is fond of dark chocolate also. Perhaps a female would be a more appreciative recipient."

"Starfleet frowns upon fraternization of that sort," he reminded her.

T'Pol shrugged in her understated Vulcan way and launched into the argument she had planned hoping to convince the captain with logic.

"Ensign Sato is a _significant_ member of your senior bridge crew, she enjoys dark chocolate, and she goes out of her way to be kind to your dog. That seems to be _significance _enough." She paused and tried to gauge how the captain was receiving this. She continued, "However, if you need more significance, she is one of your oldest friends, I believe. Perhaps she would appreciate some holiday cheer." As she turned to go T'Pol paused, turned back to him. "Besides, Starfleet doesn't need to be apprised of **every** situation." She turned abruptly and left him standing in the corridor, bemused, with the box of chocolates in hand.

Later, T'Pol's quarters

He came into her quarters, whistling, with flowers in hand. A single candle was lit and burning steadily on the shelf over the desk. He stopped when he saw her waiting for him, blue silk nightie covering her like a sheath, the hem pooling slightly on the floor at her feet. As she turned towards him he was afforded a nice view of her leg up to the thigh through the slit in the silken gown.

T'Pol gazed at him steadily until Trip came back to himself.

"_You know you're stunning, absolutely stunning…_" he said softly and trailed off at a loss for words.

T'Pol nodded slightly in response, pleased with his reaction, but realizing they would stand there all night unless she broke his reverie. She cleared her throat.

Trip came back to himself for the second time, speaking in a low drawl, "Here darlin', these are for you." He held up the roses.

She took them and brought them to her nose, inhaling their luxurious fragrance. Her face showed a moment of pure enjoyment, but her next words were all buttoned-up Vulcan.

"I understand that these flowers are customary for your Earth holiday of Valentine's Day. They are highly scented."

"They are. Some roses are only for show, I made sure to find scented roses since I know that nose of yours."

She nodded; the corners of her eyes lifting imperceptibly in what Trip had learned was as delighted as a full blown human smile.

"And this would be for you," she said, drawing his eyes away from her face and back to her outfit with a wave of her hand.

"I chose blue. I hope you are not dissatisfied. I thought that the traditional red might bring out a green hue in my skin that you would find unpleasing."

For a moment he thought she seemed unsure. Closing the gap between them he gently took her face in his hands. He caught her gaze with his.

"Darlin', there is nothing about you that I find unpleasing. I even love it when we fight. You look beautiful." He finished with tenderness, and kissed her gently; deepening their kiss until sometime later he remembered that they were still standing in the middle of her dimly lit quarters with him still in his uniform.

Breaking their kiss he looked around noting the darkness. "Where are the rest of your candles? I arranged to bring up a nice romantic dinner for the two of us… its kinda dark in here."

T'Pol pulled away slightly and looked up at him serenely. "I gave the rest to Hoshi for the evening."

Trip's head whipped around. "What? Why?"

"I told her that it would help her cause."

At Trip's confused look she continued.

"You were reluctant to advise the captain and I knew that any obvious effort on my part would prove to be fruitless. I doubted he would take counsel of that nature from a Vulcan. So I decided that approaching Ensign Sato would be the wisest and most fruitful course of action."

Trip rubbed his eyes and the bridge of his nose. "What did you do?"

"I merely mentioned how restful candles could be and offered to loan them to her for the evening. It _is_ a major holiday in your culture after all."

"Holiday yes, major, no. At least, it's only a major holiday to those already in love. Everyone else sort of ignores it."

"Yes, but we have already determined that they are emotionally attached to one another."

"But they haven't acknowledged it to themselves or one another. You should have left well enough alone."

T'Pol's nostrils flared slightly. "If I had, we would have been subjected to another five years of this _tap dancing_, as you call it. I, for one, am tiring of smelling all their pheromones when they are around each other."

"If they were to do anything Starfleet would have their hides. The captain isn't allowed to fraternize," Trip reasoned.

"I have often observed that what Starfleet doesn't know won't hurt them," T'Pol said with finality.

Trip inhaled deeply, held it, and then sighed. He looked back at T'Pol who stood there in the middle of her quarters regarding him as serenely as ever. He couldn't be annoyed with her. He knew that she only had the best interests of the captain and Hoshi at heart. After serving together for the last five years Trip knew that T'Pol cared deeply for the other members of the crew, even if she wouldn't acknowledge or show it.

He started to chuckle, and wrapped her in his embrace. "I wonder how Hoshi is going to get the captain to her cabin to enjoy all that candle light?" he mused.

"I gave the captain some chocolate to bring to her," T'Pol stated, pulling back and looking him in the face.

"You did what?" Trip said and then started to really laugh.

* * *

He entered the cabin; it was late, in the middle of gamma shift.

"I'm sorry; I wanted to make sure the corridors were empty." Stopping inside the door he looked around at the candle lit transformation around him.

Hoshi stood in the bathroom doorway, candlelight falling against the red satin of her dress.

His eyes were caught by her. "_You know you're stunning, absolutely stunning…_" he said softly and trailed off at a loss for words.

She waited till the count of ten and spoke, "If_ you were more daring maybe you'd stop staring and come over and talk to me and tell me about how you've been waiting patiently…_" quoting an old Earth song.

He snapped out of his dream-like trance, smiled at her, and brought the box from behind his back.

She smiled back at him and came forward, her hands reached up to caress his face as she pulled his head down to meet hers in a soft and tender kiss.

Breaking the kiss and taking his free hand she led him over to the bed. "Where did you get those?" she asked.

"You'd never guess," he replied.

"Oh?"

"T'Pol," he said with a smile, and Hoshi began to laugh.

"I suspect that our resident Vulcan has been trying to play Cupid," she said.

"No doubt this was part of her plan, just like showing up last night with those candles."

They chuckled together at the memory of him dashing for the bathroom before she had answered the door.

"I'm just glad she didn't insist on coming in. Her Vulcan nose would have picked up on your presence and our activities in a heartbeat!" she responded with a wicked gleam in her eyes.

"I guess that our act is still working after all this time," he said with a smile in his voice.

Hoshi opened her mouth to respond but Jon had leaned in to kiss her, cutting off whatever it was she was going to say. Setting the chocolate down on the bed beside her, she wrapped her arms around him, deepening their kiss.

As he laid her back on the bed he broke their kiss long enough to ask her with a grin, "_Do you like it? Do you like it when I'm shy?_"

"_Yes I like it, when you're shy that way,_" she replied, and brought him back to her, kissing him.

"We'd better blow those out before they burn down much more otherwise T'Pol will realize you used them and then our secret will be out," he said, standing back up and plunging the room into darkness.

"What will you tell her about the chocolates?" she asked as he turned back to the bed.

She saw his silhouette shrug in the starlight. "I'll just say that I ate them myself."

Her laughter guided him back to the bed.

The End


End file.
